Kimkim Trip Reviews

Danny was our guide he was awesome perfect fit for a relaxing vacation. Alvaro planned our trip he did a awesome job very happy with both of them

We just finished an amazing trip to Peru. Justino was an excellent guide who provided us with an authentic Peruvian experience. We were able to engage with locals, stay at family run hotels and learn about the history of the area. Our driver Reuben was also amazing, caring, and fantastic driver who safely drove us each day. I would highly recommend Aspiring Adventures to anyone looking for a uniquely personalized Peruvian adventure!

We thoroughly enjoyed our 3-hour walking tour in Rome with our highly professional tour guide Yevgen Lysenkov.
From the moment Yevgen picked us up at the hotel in Rome we felt his warm and inviting personality that highlighted our trip. He was accommodating, professional and personable. Having with us our 13-year-old grandson did not make the long walking tour easier! However, our boy felt that he was exploring the landmarks of Rome with a new friend and not just with the guide.

Yevgen has a deep knowledge and understanding of the history and culture of ancient Italy and made connections to modern Italy which made the archaic places come alive. This special way of presenting the places that Yevgen took us gave us a real appreciation of Rome and its place in history.

We truly rank Yevgen as one of our top tour guides and have already started recommending Kimkim and Yevgen to friends who are planning a trip to Rome.

Thank you so much for the memorable visit to Rome.

Alla, Bill, and Nick

We really enjoyed our trip and working with Antonia to plan our family vacation to Croatia. We really enjoyed all our guides and places we visited. We went to Split, Hvar, Kotor and Dubrovnik. We went hiking, ate delicious seafood at the oyster farm in Ston, saw some of the Game of Thrones sites and just had a wonderful time seeing these beautiful countries.

Hotel Reviews

Vila Nepos

Split

This is an amazing location. Right in the center of Split and it was extremely clean. We loved that it felt like we were staying in a castle with all the exposed stone. Our only complaint was that the bed was a little hard, but this is just a personal choice and understand everyone has their own preference when it comes to beds. Great location and host and would t hesitate to come back again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

So helpful!

Cleanliness & Comfort

HOTEL LIBERTAS

Kotor

This boutique hotel had amazing breakfast and the staff was extremely friendly. Our issue was that the AC in our room did not work and the staff didn’t know how to fix it. It was also a little farther from Kotors city center than expected. The beds were hard as well.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A little farther away than we would like

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

No AC

Activity Review

Ston Oysters Experience & Wine Tasting

Croatia

Best seafood ever!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Original Travels (Abdellah and Said) arranged a wonderful trip for us. They quickly and easily made the minor changes that we requested for the itinerary prior to booking. There were no surprises with the booking itself.

The trip went off without any significant hitches. Our driver, Ilyace, was great. From the pick-up at the airport through our last day in Marrakesh, he made sure that we were always taken care of. We appreciated his knowledge of Morocco and his clear love for his country. His English was excellent. We were so grateful to have a driver - the traffic in the cities was crazy. We would not have enjoyed the trip nearly as much if we had been trying to navigate everywhere that Ilyace took us.

Our accommodations were lovely overall and when food was included, it did not disappoint. Kashbah Titrit near Ait Ben Haddou was a lovely facility with gorgeous rooms, a beautiful terrace, and an amazing (and affordable) dinner menu. However, the jacuzzi needs to be shut down. It was moldy and made the entire pool and common area smell bad. We just didn't use the jacuzzi, so it wasn't a problem for us. Hotel Xaluca Dades had an expensive and very underwhelming buffet dinner that we would not recommend. Hotel Movenpick Casablanca also had an expensive buffet dinner on the 16th floor, but it was worth every penny. Dar Jasmine in Chefchoauen was probably our favorite - the setting on the hill was breathtaking. Their dinner was inexpensive and delicious.

Our activities were well planned and most were exactly as advertised. The guided tour in Fes was somewhat disappointing - while we saw the things that were noted, it felt like a good portion of the tour was going into shops where we were often sat down to get a sales pitch. It doesn't help that we had no idea the actual value of many of the items that were being offered so bargaining (which is expected) was difficult. Along the trip, we figured out that shopkeepers are likely often starting at twice the price they are willing to accept. Sandboarding in the dessert was nonexistent. A single sandboard was available at our hotel. It was actually an unwaxed snowboard, so it did not fit well over regular shoes and did not slide down the sand. If waxed, it may have been fun. I get the impression that the hotels just have the boards available and you can grab them, so I would not ask for this to be a special activity.

We skipped our planned Food Tour in Marrakesh because our guide let us know that most of the places she liked to showcase were closed for Ramadan. We appreciated her honesty and the company treated us to dinner on the square instead, which seemed like a very appropriate response.

Unfortunately, it rained on the day we planned to do the hot air balloon ride, so it was cancelled. The company refunded that expense without hesitation.

Overall, we loved the trip and were extremely satisfied with the support from Original Travels through kimkim. I would consider booking another vacation with kimkim in the future. It was definitely more expensive than most of our vacations, but it was also the most pampered and luxurious vacation we've taken.

Hotel Reviews

Orient Desert Camp

Merzouga

This was a really cool experience. If only all camping was this luxurious... The staff here was really kind and enthusiastic. The food was delicious.

Authenticity & Character

The evening music with the staff was quite engaging and fun. They worked really hard to get everyone involved.

Location

Beautiful to arrive by camel (although 1 camel ride is enough in my life...).

Staff

Kind, respectful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mövenpick Hotel Casablanca

Casablanca

The actual hotel and rooms were very nice, but nothing special in particular (especially when compared with some of the riads). However, it was clean and convenient. The restaurant on the 16th floor served a really impressive buffet dinner. The selection was excellent and everything was delicious. It was about $40 per person, which was more than we were expecting but there was nothing else open in the area because of Ramadan. Thankfully it was really good. We did not realize that the main floor also had a restaurant that I bet was also good and less expensive.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dar Jasmine

Chefchaouen

This was probably our favorite hotel during our trip. The combination of the character and the view over Chefchoauen made it so peaceful and serene. I would love to go back and stay there for a week or 2. The staff was excellent and the food (inexpensive dinner and the included breakfast) was really good.

Authenticity & Character

It was just really neat - both the indoor and outdoor spaces were all well thought-out

Location

gorgeous views over the city

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad El Yacout

Fès

Lovely Riad in Fes. Our rooms had beautiful stained glass windows in addition to the gorgeous decor. The included breakfast was very good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

seemed very convenient for the places we went from here

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

newly redone bathrooms that were very nice

Hotel Xaluca Dades

Boumalne

This was a nice hotel. It felt much more like any other hotel outside of Morocco as it was significantly larger than the other places we stayed. The buffet dinner was really underwhelming and overpriced for the quality of the food. The included breakfast was good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

there was a bit of a strange smell in our room, but not in the kids' room

Kasbah Titrit

Ait Ben Haddou

This hotel is really great. I'm only giving it 4 stars because the jacuzzi is really bad. It has mold on the ceiling and makes the whole common area smell bad. This was unfortunate because the pool area was otherwise really nice. This hotel has a fabulous rooftop terrace as well. The restaurant served us one of the best dinners we had, from the beautiful presentation of the meal to the delicious food. It was also very inexpensive. If they just drained and shut down the jacuzzi, this would be 5 stars.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms were great. The jacuzzi was icky and made the common areas smell bad.

Riad Nyla And Spa Marrakech

Marrakech

This hotel was just recently completely redone and it is modern and beautiful with the classic character of the riads.

Authenticity & Character

Location

very convenient to get to the Marrakesh souks

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sand-Boarding in Erg Chebbi

Merzouga

The hotel had a 'sandboard' for guests to use. It was a snowboard that was not waxed. Because of this, you did not slide down the hill. There was only one board, so if it had been working, we would not all have been able to go.

Private Cooking Class in Fes

Fes

Ameena was amazing. She took us shopping in the souks for the vegetables for our chicken tagine. Her home was lovely and the instruction was great. The completed meal was delicious and I'm so glad we learned how to make chicken tagine!! It was a privilege to spend time in her home and to meet her family.

Quality of Experience

It was really great to purchase food in the markets and then take it back to Ameena's home to prepare our meal.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ameena was a good teacher.

Transport

Ameena met us at the hotel.

Desert Adventures around Merzouga

Merzouga

Ali was a member of the hotel camp staff, so he also sang with us in the evenings. He drove us into the desert and we had tea in a nomad tent. We had berber pizza and got to see a fair bit of Merzouga. The shops that we stopped at here did not feel as pressured as in Fes.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

ATV Ride in the Dunes of Merzouga

Merzouga

This was so much fun!! The Quads were high quality machines and we had a great time racing around the desert. Really a blast. The only hiccup was that we were a bit confused about when it was supposed to happen - nobody told us in the morning that we'd be doing it at the end of the day. It worked out just fine though.

Hammam & Spa Experience Marrakech

Morocco

This was pretty cool. We had the bath and scrubbing with the black soap. We then had time to relax followed by a massage. It was a busy place so it felt a bit like we were being moved through (because we were), but it did not feel rushed.

Architectural Elegance: A Journey through the Hassan II Mosque

Morocco

The mosque is beautiful. The tour is a larger group and our particular guide was a bit difficult to hear as the group was large. It felt a bit rushed, but was still very interesting and worth the time.

Our trip to Morocco was pretty amazing, partly because the country itself is so amazing, and partly because Sharon, KimKim, and the team at Morocco Immersion Tours pretty much thought of everything to make it really special.

When we first spoke to Sharon, we told her that we'd booked a flight to Marrakech and intended to spend the first four days there -- and that we'd like her help with the rest of our 11-day trip. I think we said something like, "Here's our budget. How about a little time in the mountains, a little time in the desert, a couple of days in Fes, and then we fly back to the States from Riad?" And, with only that input, Sharon put together a draft of an itinerary that was based on our preferences, and filled with fun and interesting places to eat, stop, tour, learn, meet crafts people, hear music, and enjoy excellent accommodations along the way.

To say that the itinerary was very detailed and very complete makes it sound boring, but the detail was very reassuring (i.e., someone is actually thinking of EVERYTHING), and the way it was written got us even more excited about the trip than we already were.

Key to the success of our trip was our driver, Rachid, who was not only a great driver, but also a great person: warm, funny, likable, knowledgeable, and ready to help us with anything we needed on a day-to-day basis. He was our driver, our guide, our translator, our photographer (because sometimes our "selfies" aren't as good as they could be), our cultural tutor, and more. It was a real pleasure to spend time with him.

We are new to new having someone else plan a vacation for us and drive us around, because we usually do it ourselves. We thought Morocco might be the place to get some help from the experts because there is so much to see and do, we could use help prioritizing -- and not only do we not speak Arabic and Berber, we can't even read the alphabets!

This was truly an amazing experience from beginning to end. Sharon and Rachid took all the work and anxiety out of everything, and gave us the luxury of just being able to relax, experience, and enjoy!

The guides and drivers were excellent

The details and the planning for the trip were excellent. We changed plans many times prior to finalizing - I loved the flexbility of the planning - I was in charge. However, about 2 weeks prior when I was emailing Paulina, she never responded. A new person was assigned to my account and that went fine after that, but I had to escalate. During the trip, there was one hotel where our rooms were on 2 different floors - we were travelling with 3 kids. The hotel said there was no comment in the reservation that said they had to be together - so either the hotel was being difficult or there really wasn't a note. That was the only hiccup. The only other issue was the pick-up times for our events were so early - and I didn't realize that until one week prior. I should have asked more questions as to WHEN the trips were planned so I could have modified them. We were being picked up twice at 6:30 a.m. when the hotels' free breakfast didn't start until 6:30 a.m. - making it as if we really didn't get a free breakfast. I would look into those details if I were to use them again. Having said all that - the service of the drivers was excellent - everything went off without a hitch.

It was so easy planning a trip with Hakim, he managed to organize our trip very quickly and thoroughly. It took the stress and time out of planning it myself. Very helpful to have a tour company who knows the country and to organize all the main highlights, accommodations, tours etc. It was also very nice to have a personal driver for all the long drives who knew where to stop to eat and visit.

I recently returned from a trip to New Zealand that was, overall, a great experience. However, there were a couple of unexpected factors that left us feeling slightly disappointed.
One of the biggest challenges we faced was the unpredictable weather. We had planned to do several excursions, such as a zodiac trip at Mt Cook a helicopter ride to the Franz Joseph glacier, and a couple of others but unfortunately, the weather didn't always cooperate. We had to cancel some of our planned activities due to rain or wind, which was disappointing.
Another challenge we faced was with some of the locations where our trip planner had booked us. In a couple of cases, we found ourselves in small towns or rural areas where there was little to do and we didn't have our own transportation to get anywhere to do anything, including getting something to eat. This made it difficult to fill our time and left us feeling a bit bored and frustrated.
Despite these challenges, we still managed to have a great time in New Zealand. The natural beauty of the country is truly breathtaking, and we were able to enjoy many stunning vistas and landscapes during our trip. We also met some incredibly friendly and welcoming people and learned a lot about the history and culture of the country.
Overall, I would recommend a trip to New Zealand but would advise travelers to be prepared for unpredictable weather and to carefully consider their itinerary to avoid any areas with limited activities or transportation options. With a bit of flexibility and planning, however, I'm sure anyone can have a memorable and enjoyable trip to this beautiful country.

Hotel Reviews

Merivale Manor

Christchurch

This is a bit misleading unless you actually stay at the manor as billed. We stayed in what was basically some motor lodge-type rooms right on the main road. Room was okay the proprietors were nice enough, but I wouldn't call it a three-star location. Perhaps the actual Manor house is nicer

Authenticity & Character

Kind of cheap motor-lodge rooms

Location

Not really close to a whole lot if you don't have a car

Staff

Owners were nice

Marlborough Bed & Breakfast

Tuamarina

Unless you have a car do not stay here. It is not near anything, not that there is a ton in Blenheim anyway. We were stranded here for two days. Our included breakfast consisted of some fruit, yogurt, and 4 eggs that we had to make, ourselves and clean up all the dishes and that was it for two days. This place is nice, but in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. Every day we would hear what sounded like a huge gun or cannon going off every few minutes starting in the early morning. Turns out it was grape harvesting time and the local growers literally had a gas cannon that they shot off to keep the birds away. This went on all day long at random intervals many times an hour. The proprietor was confused as to why we were even staying there considering we didn't have a car. We thought about trying to do some laundry as that was supposedly one of the perks only to find out that there was a washer but no dryer. We had to take taxis back and forth to town to eat which was costly and a pain because we were way in the back and could not tell when they were in the main driveway. Our pick up for transport to the train was not until late afternoon but the owner insisted that we check out by 10:30. With some back and forth with our travel people we got an early pickup but then had to sit around with our bags all day in town waiting for the train.

Authenticity & Character

The place was nice enough

Location

Far from town if you don't have a car. No good access to food, for the cost of the place the "included" breakfast was a joke

Staff

We felt like they just wanted to get us in and out of there. Really not an enjoyable experience

Millennium Hotel Rotorua

Rotorua

Staff was very professional and courteous, breakfast was very nice

Location

Easy walking distance to things

Staff

Top notch

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very good

Fiordland Navigator, Doubtful Sound

Manapouri

Location

Beautiful fjord!

Staff

great people good experience

Activity Reviews

Polynesian Spa Lake View Private Pool

Rotorua

Waste of time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Twin Glacier 30-Minute Helicopter Flight with Snow Landing

New Zealand

Never got to go

Stargazing from Mount Cook

Aoraki / Mount Cook Village

Never got to go due to weather

Sounds Connection Half Day Wine Tour

New Zealand

This stop in Blenheim was a waste of two days

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The Essence of Waiheke Wine Tour

New Zealand

This was a lovely stop, loved the island and wineries. Everyone was wonderful including the driver who was nice enough to take us to one of the stops we missed because of the Ferry. The lunch at Three Seven Two was excellent one of the best meals on our trip

Quality of Experience

Lovely place, with nice people, good wine, and food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver and wine tour people were wonderful

Transport

Need to let people know to get to the Ferry early

Auckland to Rotorua, Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves

New Zealand

I enjoyed this more than I might of expected. The glow worms were quite interesting as was Hobbiton. Our driver was quite a character and kept us entertained on the long drive

Quality of Experience

Interesting and liked Hobbiton more that I though I would

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver was quite entertaining and made the trip fun

Transport

The driver

Eco Thermal Park - Eco Thermal Full Day Tour

Rotorua

This was an interesting excursion, but our guide was very rude to my wife at one point seemingly because he was trying to rush everyone through so he could get a sub-set of the group back by a particular time. Which made the experience less enjoyable for us as we had to dash from stop to stop. And as I said the treatment of my wife for trying to get a cup of coffee not knowing we had to leave right away because he was in a hurry, which was not communicated to us at all. Just set a very negative tone for the day for us

Quality of Experience

The guide

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide was rude and rushed us the whole time

Transport

Ride was fine

It all went very well. Meree was good, but unfortunately fell ill(?). Julia took over and was equally responsive.
A few misunderstandings were quickly fixed (hotel booking, change of dates on boat etc.
So it was all good, enjoyable and well done to the team!

Hotel Reviews

Anker Brygge

Svolvær

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Reine Rorbuer

Reine

Great room, but service was non existent. Admittedly it was Easter but….NO breakfast, path to room was unwalkable with snow and ice. Nearly fell over several times. Called the number and simply got an answering service . Terrible

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bergen Børs Hotel

Bergen

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Thief

Oslo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Radisson Blu Hotel

Tromsø

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Northern Lights Hunt by Bus

Tromsø

No northern lights….no-one to blame other than the clouds!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fjellheisen Cable Car Experience

Tromsø

Quality of Experience

Norway in a Nutshell Tour

Norway

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marta helped us plan out a family trip to Barcelona and Madrid with a few day trips. She was helpful and patient with us prior to the trip. And we received a detailed plan through their app before we arrived with all the tickets/vouchers and info we would need. We packed a lot into the 9 day itinerary, and it all went very smoothly. It was nice to sit back and enjoy the trip while all the guides and drivers were all where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there! And any questions that came up were promptly answered by Marta and her coworkers. All the guides were great.
We weren't sure how the mosaic activity would go over with the kids on the day we arrived in Barcelona (on a red eye). But it turned out to be a relaxing activity that we all enjoyed, and we got some nice souvenirs to boot.
Also, not all of us were thrilled about the hike in the mountains on the way to Segovia, but it turned out to be a highlight of the trip for all.....it was very beautiful.

Activity Reviews

Family Fun: Mosaiccos (Trencadís and Mosaic Workshop)

Barcelona

This was a chill activity for the day we arrived to Barcelona on a red-eye. We all enjoyed and got some cool souvenirs to bring home.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kids & Family Gothic Quarter

Barcelona

Lisa was engaging with the kids and got them interested in the history of the Gothic Quarters. The area is pretty cool.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Costa Brava Day Trip: Tossa de Mar and Panoramic Boat Ride

Barcelona

The area is beautiful. We had a nice hike, a little walk through a coastal town, a boat ride, and then a nice meal on the coast. Vincente and Joaquin were well orchestrated getting us around. It was Easter Sunday, so it was a pretty crowded the day we went.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Family Day Trip to Toledo

Spain

Toledo was beautiful. We had great weather and it wasn't too busy, so that helped. Our guide Natalia picked us up at the train station and took us for a nice walking tour through the city starting with a nice view from outside the old city. Included some stops for local treats.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hike & Guided Visit of Segovia

Madrid

Gabrielle was our driver for the day. He was great and kept everything flowing. We were picked up in Madrid and taken to the mountains for a hike with Hugo. We had a nice hike along a mountain river which was highlight for the entire trip. Then on to Segovia for a nice suckling pig lunch and then a city tour with Maria. The ancient aqueduct is pretty cool.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip planning was terrific. Some minor suggestions:

Would have been nice to know it was Ramadan when we were planning the trip.
Car should have been prepared with water for us

Riads were fantastic! Our driver, Soukayna went above and beyond. Like traveling with a friend. Guides were all great. Everyone was very timely.

Wonderfully planned vacation. Excellent clearly planned details provided. Always available for help along the way!
Patagonia is amazing......hike to Grey and the base of Torres del Paine is a MUST!!!!!!
El Perito Moreno in Argentina is spectacular!!!!!!
We unfortunately were unable to do the kayaking to Glacier Grey because of high winds.....but I would still recommend doing it.

After putting over 100 hours of research into our family trip to Paris, I'm very happy with the tours and guide choices. Amandine had good ideas and stitched everything together very well.

We have a 5 year old and a 2 year old, I'm pregnant and we also traveled with our nanny. There were a lot of moving parts and we hadn't done a trip like this before. We obviously had things that worked well and things we wouldn't do again at our current stage. I can't speak highly enough of the Blue Fox tour group, especially the bike tour we did was so much fun for everyone. While the museum tours were really well done, I think they're meant more for children 7+ (not 5+) and I wish we'd gone without the kids.
We stayed at Marriot hotels in Paris and Dijon (we have status) and those worked great for our large group and we're in a centralized location. Figuring out the Paris Pass was more complicated than I thought (you have to attach a photo to it or get a ticket!) But it made traveling around Paris very easy.
Amandine did a great job of taking my research and finding the specific tour guides, booking, and coordinating everything. I just printed everything off and drivers would text me the night before to confirm pick up.
The two issues that came up that I would recommend other people be aware of when booking:
First the protests-- I'm not talking about trash in Paris, but the national protests, dates published in advance, most of the city shuts down. It wasn't Amandine who told us it was happening, that we would need to reschedule our tours for that day, or areas to avoid since we had small children, but the Blue Fox tour guide the day before and some local friends living outside of Paris. I had to reach out to Amandine to confirm and arrange for our trip to Versailles to be refunded. At that point it was the day before, so we couldn't reschedule to another day without major disruption. This was a pretty big deal and something I absolutely think should have been communicated since the days are published in advance.
Secondly, I'd asked Amandine if she'd be able to help book restaurants while we were there and she had told me she could. I had selected the restaurants but had wanted assistance with making the reservations to inform the restaurant of my pregnant dietary restrictions. She informed me 3 days before we left that she couldn't complete the reservations without my credit card and sent me website links. Obviously several of my choices had already booked up at that point and I was left scrambling to try and find alternatives. I would rather her have been upfront that it's a service she doesn't offer and I would've taken care of it myself.

Fortunately communication with Amandine was always easy and she was readily reachable when I had the protest concerns while we were in Paris. This is our second time using KimKim and I'm very pleased with Amandine's putting the trip together, and really selected great tour guides! I do think those two negatives were pretty big for us though and I recommend either her group be aware and make changes for future clients or clients understand the limitations of her group.

Activity Review

Private Family Bike Trip

Paris

Cecilia is amazing and this bike tour was everyone's favorite thing on our whole trip. Can't recommend this highly enough.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were met upon arrival at Cape Town airport by Jennifer who escorted us thru the the car rental site and out the door. What a lovely assistance, she provided. She also provided us with a couple bottle of wine for the nights relaxation. Lindi, our coordinator, did a wonderful job of putting together some really nice B&B's for your trip to SA. The Cape Riviera Guest House was centrally located to a lot of the attractions available in Cape Town. It was also within walking distance to many restaurants. The Guest House is a little dated but that added to the ambiance of the place. The grounds were nice to stroll in. Owen, the proprietor , was very pleasant and informative. The breakfast was a great way to start the day.

Our first day got off a little late due to our intended guide becoming deathly ill. Lindi scrambled to get us a replacement on short notice. Not having the itinerary, Micheal, our guide, started us with a trip to the top of Table Mtn. We rode the gondola to the top. What a gorgeous view of CapeTown from there. Michael walked us around the paths, introducing us to the plants, animals, and, the water gathering systems up there. After getting back to the vehicle, We got a history lesson from Michale about apartheid and the changes that came with it as we drove to the waterfront for lunch. We strolled around there for a bit and lost track of time. We drove by the Church of Good Hope but had insufficient time to wander thru the inside.

Day 2, Michael drove us along the Camps Bays, Chapman's Peak scenic hwy to Cape Point. What a great drive. We did a little hiking on the head lands before taking the obligatory photo of the Cape of Good Hope sign. From there, we wandered up the east side of the Cape Peninsula making our way to Groot Constancia winery for lunch and to taste a few of their wines. After lunch, a visit to Kirshtenbosch Botanical Gardens was made. Michael introduced us to the miriad of plants , trees, ferns, their medicinal uses, etc and the history of the gardens. Two days is not near enough to spend in CApeTown. THere's just too much to see and experience. We will spend some more time here when we return.

Day 3 and beyond, we were on our own. We drove thru the Winelands of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Specifically, we stopped at KanonKop, Babylonstroen, Boschendal and Lanzerac wineires. We strolled around the grounds and tasted their wines. Very impressive farms, they all were, especially Babykonstroen. we ended our day at Herman's, late. We found our B&B...Whale Rock Lodge right after sunset. THis is a very nice establishment, nice grounds, well kept.

Day 4, Melanie, the proprietor, met us in the AM for Breakfast and gave us info on beach walks from the Lodge, We wandered along the rocky coastline for a morning stretch before getting back in our vehicle and driving onward. We made our way thru the scenic countryside and back roads to Cape Agulhas where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. After stretching and picture taking, it was back in the car and off to the Garden Route and Knysna for a couple of days. Lindi's choice of the Blackwaters River Lodge was a nice stay. Jane and Bonita made our two night stay very pleasant. They do a very nice meal service and breakfast here. The veranda was a nice, quiet place to relax and sip some of the wines we sourced on our trip.

We did some mountain hiking in the morning, then down to Robberg Nature Reserve for some more hiking. The trails in the Reserve can be somewhat daunting for the uninformed, as we found out. the 5.5K trail around the peninsula included a lot of rock hopping and sands. we were bushed when we finished. We dined on oysters and seafood in Knysna at 34 street, on the water front. We ran out of time for the sunset cruise of the Knysna Estuary and headlands, but would recommend it for the future .

From Knysna, we continued our drive along the West Cape and into the East Cape on N2 thru Port Elizabeth, then headed north on N10 before turning westward on R400, inland to Kuzuko Lodge in the Central Karoo and Greater Addo Elephant Reserve. The first 10k of R400 is extremely rough. We found a better alternative on the way out, using R335, a much smoother, unpaved road, 15 K out of the way but quicker over all. The Kuzuko Lodge is a great stay in the middle of nowhere. The Reserve consists of 15000 Hectare of the Karoo. We did four game drives on the reserve, one each morning and each evening. We saw plenty of wildlife to keep us happy: Elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetah, a miriade of antelope from small to large, raptors, cranes, meerkats, mongoose, jackles and more. The staff at Kuzuko were very accommodating and pleasant. Their meals were very nice, too. Got to give a shoutout to our game driver, Quinton, very informative on the the animals and history of the Reserve. The spa staff at the Lodge did an incredible job of working all the kinks and knots out of our muscles after a jostling game drive. Highly recommend their services.

Lindi, of Salty/KimKim Tours did a great job of arranging our rental car, guide and stays for our trip. The BNB'S were 4 star and higher. The included meals were a nice addition. The Kuzuko Game Lodge and staff were really great too. AS I mentioned before, two days in Cape Town is not near enough time to see all that is available. The same can be said of all the stops along our route . We will need to return to South Africa again to capture more of its scenic wonders. Thanks Lindi for giving us a glimpse of this great county.

Great trip. All guides were amazing. Climbed to the top of Mt Toukbal. Kimkim was really spot on. Amazing customer service
Aladean

We had the most amazing trip to Ecuador. It was a group of 5 family members. The activities were of a wide variety to satisfy everyone. Our guides and drivers did a wonderful job. They were informative but also gave us time to sit back and enjoy the scenery. All of our provided meals were delicious.

As this was such a big trip with many facets, I will split the review into 4 parts: kimkim’s service, the guides, the hotels and the places we saw.

KimKim’s service:
I have used KimKim before to book a similarly long trip to Indonesia and had an excellent experience so I was excited to do so again for Japan. It was an okay experience the 2nd time around but definitely not as polished or as organised. Our specialist (before she left the company) was Kristy. She was generally amenable to our changes but we noticed she was off on leave alot and did take quite a long time to respond to queries, often having to be messaged twice in a row. This was frustrating at times but when she was present, things were generally done well.
Once she left the company just before our trip, Claudia took over. She was generally on the ball and it must have been difficult picking up a huge itinerary with so many last minute things to organise but she did it generally well. There were, however, a couple of things we were not happy about. Some of the itineraries put together for us seemed to ignore the fact we couldn’t do long hikes up mountains and had no interest in doing so, yet put aside 3 hours of a day (in one instance in Miyajima) to do so.
Another thing that was a major source of frustration was the bullet train tickets. We were told in advance that we would need to book these in Japan and so we did (at huge time expense, standing in a queue for hours at JR booking office). However, we were very annoyed when we were messaged mid-holiday asking if we had booked our tickets to Miyajima. We were annoyed because we were not told at any point how we were getting to Miyajima (Hakone, for instance, was a coach tour and we knew this in advance) so did not book tickets. We stood in a line for a further hour on April 8th in the evening after a long day tour waiting to book tickets for a trip we could have booked days before, and when I expressed my dismay at this on the KimKim chat, did not even receive an apology for the lack of organisation and huge inconvenience this caused us. There was no recognition that your company had committed an oversight at the expense of their customer. To make matters worse, I was asked to put the details up on the chat, which I did on April 8th (that same evening) so that KimKim could pass on the details of the bullet train to our guide. Imagine my surprise when, one the eve of the trip to Miyajima, our guide messaged me asking me for details of our bullet train booking because KimKim hadn’t passed the details on like they said they would. This was 2 days after I had put the details up to be passed along…

The guides:
I will start by saying that in general, the guides were lovely and helpful. We understand there is a real issue with English language speakers in Japan and a lack of guides in general, so will not spend too long going on about language barriers.
Teruko, Kuniko and Noriko were all very friendly guides who showed great flexibility to amend itineraries in our best interests and to change routes to help with my mother-in-law’s difficulties walking and my pregnant wife. They all tried their best with restaurateurs who didn’t want to change menu orders for my wife who couldn’t eat many foods due to her pregnancy sickness. Overall they did a great job.
Special mentions go to Stephanie and Momoyo, who we absolutely loved. Our day in Nakameguro with Stephanie was a blast and she was very knowledgeable. She took us to excellent food places, got involved with the picture taking, which pleased the ladies in the group and took us to a mansion at the end when we couldn’t eat any more which showed excellent flexibility and understanding of her clients.
Momoyo was with us for 3 separate days and we loved her! Her English was excellent and she went out of her way frequently to help us with any and all difficulties. If we had her all trip, we wouldn’t have minded at all! She helped us book that bullet train to Miyajima, negotiated food orders and worked out the least tiring routes for us. By day 2, she knew our likes and dislikes and had planned in things to do with food for instance, that met all our criteria (like planning in a visit to Rikuro’s because my wife mentioned wanting Japanese cheesecake in passing on day 1)
She even bought us a gift at the end (which we of course had done for her too!), which was so sweet but showed how much we bonded with her.
Overall, the guides were a highlight of the trip.

The Hotels:
Park Hotel - we spent 6 days here and we generally loved it. It was a 2nd choice after we couldn’t quite afford the previous recommended hotel (the Pullman) but it worked out well. Amazing lobby, free hot chocolate and coffee, a good breakfast with excellent views, attentive and well-spoken staff, who wanted to help. The rooms weren’t on the same quality level, but they were comfortable enough and had everything we needed. They were cleaned immaculately! They also helped us when we lost our camera and had to have it delivered specially to the hotel. They paid for it while we were out and put it on the room, really allowing us to enjoy our time out in the city without worrying about payment etc.

Sakura Terrace The Gallery - we spent 5 days here and we would not recommend this hotel to anyone. We generally like luxury hotels and at the very least, need our creature comforts. This hotel, though very pretty, well located and offering big rooms, lacked in most departments and I am surprised this was recommended to us. The website made it look great but a specialist like KimKim should have known what its shortcomings were and that we wouldn’t be happy with it. Issues included hotel staff not always being available to help, a pointless breakfast ticket system that had us waiting in the cold when the breakfast room was full, no safes in the rooms (!), no wardrobes either just a small rail to put all clothes on, no plug sockets anywhere near the bed, incredibly poor cleaning standards (the room wasnt cleaned once the entire time we were there and hadn’t been cleaned well before we got in there) and finally, we had 2 rooms next to each other with completely different furnishings - we had a couch in our room but our parents didn’t have anything but the bed to sit on. All in all, a poor hotel experience.

Hotel Intergate Umeda - we stayed for 2 days and this was an excellent hotel. In a lovely area, incredibly clean and smart hotel, helpful staff always on call, a decent breakfast and the rooms were fantastic and immaculately cleaned and there was even a vending machine on our floor for if we needed extra drinks on top of the free water. We thoroughly enjoyed staying there and would have stayed there for longer.

The places we saw:
Japan is quite an experience! Tokyo is madcap and brimming with people and noise, Kyoto is filled with history and Osaka is a smart and elegant city.

Pleasant surprises:
We loved the Nakameguro food tour recommendation (with its cherry-blossom lined streets) and Nara was also an excellent day trip (the deer park was a fun experience with deer chasing us for food and crossing the road at zebra crossings). Arashiyama was a lovely place also but as a tip, the biggest photogenic sites like the bamboo forest should be put earliest on the day’s agenda before the crowds set in (our guide changed it round and rightly so! We wouldn’t have got any good pictures of the bamboo forest otherwise).
In addition, Shin-Sekai in Osaka along with a beautiful park our guide Noriko took us to in Hiroshima were wonderful surprises filled with many photo opps/moments of laughter and serene beauty respectively.

Expected but still wonderful:
Most of the other places we already knew about and requested but it is worth mentioning Kinkakuji, Osaka Castle and Fushimi Inari shrine. These were excellent places to visit early in the morning before the crowds got in. It rained heavily at Kinkakuji and it was still wonderful and awe-inspiring. Sanjunsangendo temple and Todai-ji temple were marvellous and jaw-dropping examples of Buddhist statues and worship. The gardens nearby to Todai-ji were picturesque and well worth a visit and stroll.

Overall, although the experience with KimKim wasn’t as smooth as in the past, the holiday itself was magnificent. The guides were well worth the money we paid for them and in terms of affordability, KimKim still provides bang for your buck. Japan is truly amazing and an experience never to forget!

Hotel Reviews

SAKURA TERRACE THE GALLERY

Kyoto

Poor cleaning standards, no safes, no wardrobes just a small rail, poor pillows, no plugs near the bed, absent staff. Good location, excellent breakfast, pretty, big rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right next to Kyoto station

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel Tokyo

Higashi Shimbashi, Minato-ku

Incredibly clean, great lobby, excellent views, friendly and well-spoken staff, good location, nice breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Ieva was excellent but everyone was just as good - just didn’t catch their names!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Nakameguro Food Tour

Tokyo

Stephanie was an excellent guide, Nakameguro is a lovely, trendy neighbourhood lined with cherry-blossoms. Excellent food too!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nara Day Tour from Kyoto

Kyoto

Nara is beautiful and the city of deer. Deer park is an unforgettable experience, Todai-ji is one of the most impressive temples in the whole of Japan with rare opportunity to take pictures of Buddha statues (generally not allowed in Japan) and the gardens on the site are some of the best (cherry blossoms trees, a huge pond and every type of flower and colour imaginable!)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sightseeing & Food Tour of Osaka

Osaka

Osaka is a classy, elegant city. Lots of modern skyscrapers, squeaky-clean, not as busy or intimidating as Tokyo (people are a little more laid-back here), Shin-Sekai is quirky and fun and filled with photo opps, the food is cheaper and you are spoiled for choice, shopping is just as plentiful as Tokyo (so a HUGE amount available). Osaka Castle is an amazing building and very thorough and worthwhile tour if you like history or 360 degree views from a height.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Miyajima 1-day Private Tour from Osaka

Japan

The Itsukushima shrine and torii gates are excellent, lots of food choices on the island too.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All on time, efficient

Beautiful Arashiyama

Kyoto

Bamboo forest is excellent but make sure you see it first thing in the morning if you want good pictures. Will be too packed with people otherwise. Monkey park, kimono forest (which isn’t a forest but a modern art installation) and tenryuji temple are nice things to see and do. Lots of nature and walking! Arashiyama is a lovely place and well worth a day-trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Angela was key for our whole trip. She was extremely knowledgeable about Greece and what kind of tours we may want. She worked very well with me to come up with the perfect 10 days for me and my family. She got us amazing tours on the mainland with a private mythical tour of Athens with our guide Ifi (she was an archeologist working on her doctorate, so very well spoken). Our tour to Meteora was great, however we would have loved more time there. When we told Angela that we wanted a few different locations, her insight led us to Crete as went early in the season and the other islands would still be a bit chilly. She set up a day tour of Crete with our guide Alexander Yefimets. If you go on a tour in Crete, your MUST ask for this man. He and his team were completely agreeable to whatever and due to the weather for our day, he completely changed the itinerary to stay away from rain and only enjoy sun and beauty. They met us at our VRBO and we had an amazing day with them. Alexander also recommended restaurants and things to do for the rest of our stay. Angela did an amazing job of setting this up for us.
Angela was very responsive before the trip and gave me her contact information for use while we were in Greece in case anything came up.
Simply the best. I will not visit Greece without going through Angela and Kimkim again.

Hotel Reviews

Marriott Moxy Athens City

Athens

Quaint and spunky hotel as all Moxy’s are. Staff were amazing and sweet. They loved my 13 yo daughter and wanted to make her breakfast every day :) Good location as well.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great central location. 100s of restaurants and sights are from a 1 minute to a 20 minute walk.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are a bit small even for Europe

Eva Villas West

Gerani town

Great idea, poorly executed. The pool was empty and they never told us it wouldn’t be filled until later in the season (actually the day we left). No hot water for the first three days as the boiler was broken. The place is a bit run down, broken doors in kitchen, missing handles on shower doors, walls in various stages of repair, and of course the hot water. Location is great and the hosts are amazing and responsive, but we were a bit disappointed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Athens to Meteora day trip by scenic train ride!

Athens

Unfortunately the train arrived late and left early so we only had a short time in Meteora. Also, we were supposed to be in a limo bus with no more than 20 people, but we were on a large coach with 42 people. Not anyone’s fault, but the train did mess us up. Our five hour tour and 4 Monastery visits turned in to a 2 hour visit with two very rushed visits and a bus ride around the other four. Disappointing as this is an amazing place.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

East Crete Secrets Off the Beaten Track: Through the Eyes of Locals from East

Greece

Alexander was our guide and it was simply amazing. Due to weather, we changed from East Crete to central Crete but our guides were simply amazing. Alex was watching the weather and doing an amazing job of keeping us dry and in the sun. The weather is ever changing in Crete. They offered plenty of snacks and, of course, Raki. Alex never seemed to rush or want the tour to end. He gave us as much time as we wanted in every spot we stopped. He continually said, we are friends, and friends spend the whole day together. It was an amazing trip to Monestaries, beaches, shops, sights etc. Stephanos was our driver and he was great as well. Some of the streets in Crete are extremely narrow and he got our sprinter van through amazingly. Highly recommend this trip and do yourself a favor and ask for Alexander Yefimets!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Beautiful clean Mercedes sprinter